


My Way

by VelociraptorsDontLie



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Ambitious Crossover, British swearing, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Oblivious Pining, Profanity, Sexual Content, lustful comment, lustful thoughts, self-indulgent fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:48:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28854567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelociraptorsDontLie/pseuds/VelociraptorsDontLie
Summary: When something bad happens it’s unsure what one will do in the face of something new and scary. For one such as her, the role seems small, unimportant, and yet she’ll do it all her way for the child in her care. (Title subject to change)
Relationships: Din Djarin x OC
Kudos: 5





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn’t gonna post this because it seems a bit too …meh. i dont even have a proper vision for this yet but…im sure it’ll come to me. i got into the star wars universe recently so im a bit uneducated which…kinda works for this story actually. Lemme know any thoughts though. (posted also on my tumblr)

There’s a Galaxy not too far away.

It’s beautiful. It’s everything she could have possibly asked for and it’s right there in her sights. It feels almost as if she could reach out and touch it, so close and yet so far away. So many things it could have been, yet it was a simple yet complex Galaxy that caught her eye in the dark space around her. 

Sighing, she looks away from the hunger-inducing chocolate bar and continues to work with her higher-paid…male coworkers. 

They bustled and ranted from all around her, flanked from all sides as she tried to figure just why they didn’t treat her with the same respect other females in the workplace got.

Perhaps it was her clothes, her blue hair? her choice in jewelry perhaps? Everything about her seemed perfectly normal, she was fairly normal, kind, and helpful…so why did they seem to hate her so much?

Maybe it wasn’t hate so much as indifference. They did thank her when she brought their coffee or tea and they did say please when they asked her for stuff. She smoothed down the black pencil skirt as she looked upon the notes and files on her desk.

The place of her work wasn’t entirely for the simple. Sure there was the usual lab work, science work involving different studies, the particular area in which she was interning for, was Space.

Time and space.

The small team of scientists were working on several theories and tests all at the same time. Files from new technology to new ways to travel in space came through her desk each day.

Never had she thought something quite like this would be obtainable.

Pens, rocks, different fabrics, all of which had gone through the test of teleportation into space. The landings were screwy, some rocks landed in the dead nonexistent atmosphere, forever suspended.

Others had landed on different planets. Only discernible if the tracker still worked.

Three hamsters had died in transportation, more had suffocated in space…she knew which idiot had forgotten to put them in a sealed oxygenated box.

There were more failures than successes and they were no closer to their goal of finding out what lay on the other side of a Galaxy.

The day had started off like any other. She pined for her chocolate, pined for her soft fuzzy socks and warmth of her bed. As much as she loved that she had gotten into one of the most wanted lab spots as an intern.

She wished she was more than just an intern.

The light pink shirt she wore blended nicely between her blue hair and black pencil skirt; black heeled shoes completing the air of sophistication. Everything seemed fairly normal except for the people.

They’d never been like this. The workplace always used to be kind and safe, now she just felt odd and scared. It was silent and they all looked at her with passing glances, hoping she wasn’t realizing that they were staring sometimes.

It was awfully suspicious. All-day they’d be secretive, more so than usual and it was really starting to creep her out. So she reached down and picked up her bag from the floor, heading for the first reception out of the building.

“I’m heading home for the day, I don’t feel too good.”

“Of course, Nora. I hope you feel better. Oh! quickly before you go-” Nora rejected the urge to roll her eyes. Anticipating the gold medal run for Talking in the Olympics for England, Nora was ready for her feet to be aching, instead what she felt was entirely different.

The woman was still talking as the pinch in her neck subsided, Nora’s eyes falling shut immediately, the world going blank as she fell back into the waiting arms of a coworker.

Well, Ex-coworker.

Waking up was a feat in itself. She felt hot, courtesy of the fact that they had stuffed her into a spacesuit, where they had acquired the thing or where they had put her favourite pair of shoes were the questions on her mind.

Aside from the obvious ‘what the fuck are they doing to me’ question in big bold letters, screaming itself in her head. At least it was before the realization set in.

They’d thrown her into a spacesuit without taking off her underclothes, her skirt bunched uncomfortably under it, she had no socks on in the giant boots. The vacuum-sealed room had only one exit and it was locked tight.

Though it wasn’t entirely empty. She was there yes, but so were her shoes and her bag. “THose are for you to keep in event you end up somewhere…alive.”

The head of their little team spoke on the other side of the glass. He used to be kind, he used to smile all the time and now he just looked evil, devoid of any emotion. 

“Please don’t do this!” It wasn’t hard for them to hear her, the helmet’s comm was connected to the entire room and she could hear her echo. “I’ll die!”

“Nonsense. You’re the best human candidate we have for this test.”

“I never fucking volunteered! Asshole!” She pounded her fist against the window, the fight in her was dead but she was going to act as if she had any chance of getting out of that room. “People will look for me. They will miss me!”

“There’s nothing to look for here. You left early after suddenly coming down with an illness.” Anita’s face fell, her own excuse being used against her so all her friends would think she was just another missing person.

“Fire it up.”

She could feel the rumble beneath her feet, the telltale startup of the machine. They actually going to do this. “No! This is inhuman! Monstrous! Please don’t!”

Ignored, the head starting barking more orders, muffled and incoherent as he turned off the comm connection. The lights in the room flickered, computer screens and phone screens, electricity could all but be seen in the air.

This was new. Something they seemed to have done behind her back. The normal machine never took so much power to be used, and she wondered just what needed so much power.

The answer came in the form of a strong wind. A pull from behind her and she could see that her bag was moving towards it. 

Space. In the palm of their hand, contained in this tiny room. They had opened a portal nearby to the andromeda galaxy, or it so seemed like they had done it. Anita couldn’t actually see the galaxy, nor any galaxy or star, just the vast darkness of space.

Anita gathered her grey bag, shoving her shoes into it as she turned back to the window, banging on it in fear as she pleaded with them to stop this. Pleaded with their humanity that she would stay silent about this if they just let her out.

All her coworkers stayed still, neither moving nor blinking at the show of science in front of them. Whatever force of gravity was pulling her away was getting stronger, her instant hold on anything was pure instinct.

Though it was not strong enough. The gloves didn’t allow for the same grip she would have had without them on. She felt her hands slipping and when she eventually had been pulled from the bar.

The loss of gravity felt strange, as though she were in an elevator, her entire being felt weightless but it still terrified her to no end. On the edge of hyperventilating, she suddenly felt the sucking vacuum once again before Gravity dropped her to the ground.

Anita felt relief, eyes closed she thought perhaps the machine hadn’t worked, that it had turned off and failed. On the contrary, The machine had worked too well.

The room she was in was empty. The scientists were baffled and the entire building was dark, everything within a five-mile radius was dark as the power had been used for the machine. The only thing that told the scientists that it had worked, was the lights they checked when they managed to get everything back on.

When Anita opened her eyes, the relief vanished and fear had returned. The ground underneath her was not white and tiled, it was brown and…sand, her helmet had cracked and she hear the air whistling through the tight gap as the wind blew.

She’d had been dead if she couldn’t breathe the atmosphere so it had to be at least similar to Earths atmosphere. She was warm, too warm and she didn’t know if it was because her heart was pounding or because of the sun looming overhead.

Wrenching off the bulky helmet, Anita worked on stripping the heavy and hot suit from her body which left her in just her smart work clothes and a labcoat. Anita’s cries were loud, no one was around to hear them and she had to let out some of the emotions she was feeling.

She couldn’t believe they had done that to her. She had worked with them for months and thought she was their friend. To be thrown away so easily wasn’t something Anita was used to and crying in the middle of a desert, barefoot and at risk of cancer was something she never expected to be doing.

She picked up her bag, heels poking out the edge, and hugged to her chest. the only familiar thing around her wasn’t going to leave her sight. The sand was hot on her toes, tears still falling as she stood to her feet and wondered which direction to walk in to find any sort of civilization or place to set a base up.

She hadn’t known how long she had been walking, sand was stuck to her feet as sweat dripped down her legs. Flyaway blue hairs stuck to her head and she wished she had more than the tiny bottle of water she bought on the way to work.

She was scared, alone, and had no way of knowing where she was. She hadn’t seen anything more than a random frog-like thing hopping around. The racing heart and mind were only just starting to calm down when she heard shouting in a foreign language.

Something shot at her, just barely missing her toes in the sand and Anita screamed. Falling to her knees and throwing her hands in the air as non-threateningly as she could possibly get. Hands roughly grabbed and shoved down behind her back, forced back to her feet and to walk in a direction different to the one she was going in.

“Please, I don’t understand!!”

The strange beings that had seemed to take her prisoner continued to force her forward. Only 4 of them but the glimpse of red and green skin was enough to make her realize she didn’t want to see them.

“Quiet!”

Something in her dropped with relief that they seemed to know even a little bit of English. She half thought she could perhaps reason with them, try to get them to let her go in any direction they were not in.

The feel of a gun barrel told her not to speak again though. Anita regretted not doing so as they walked over a large dune, an encampment sitting there looking all…suspicious to her. More of the people who had captured her were walking around it, seemingly keeping guard of the place which only further cemented the fact that these were not good people…things.

They took her in and snatched her bag from her, one looked through it while the other pushed what looked like a metal egg towards her.

“Hey! B-be careful with those!” Though scared, her phone was terribly expensive and she still wanted to keep all her familiar items from home even if some of them wouldn’t work here.

The one with the gun like weapon jabbed her with the barrel and made a sound that told her to be quiet. pushing the metal egg into her thighs with more force. “You care for it.”

“Care for what!? Is this thing alive!? It’s an egg! Hey, now that is super duper expensive!” Overwhelmed and jabbed once again with the gun barrel, Anita watched helplessly as the one with her bag dropped her perfume back in it without a care. She hoped it hadn’t broken.

“Care for it!” Hardly any other option at the end of a weapon, Anita wrapped her arms around the egg and held it close to her hoping to appease the thing talking in broken English. The other one threw her bag back down to the floor and they both left together, the large metal door shutting behind them heavily.

Evidently her only way out of the room, Anita had little choice but to sit on the floor and observe the metal egg she was given. It was white, but very clearly bashed up with a slit down the middle of the top end.

Anita squinted at what looked like buttons on the front of it. Gently tapping her painted fingernails on the metal, jumping when she heard a cooing sound muffled from within; her mouth made an 'o’ shape at the realization that the egg itself wasn’t alive, but there was instead something alive inside it.

She didn’t want to open it. What if it was like those other things. What if it was scaly or had horns and sharp, what if it bit her entire hand off and she needed a metal hook to replace it!? Laughing at herself, Anita hovered her finger over the button counting to three before pressing it quickly and shuffling away on the off chance it would bite her.

The cooing sounded again, louder now it wasn’t covered by the metal. Anita opened her eyes and glanced at it, thoroughly surprised by what she saw, for one, it was green…

And utterly adorable.

“Oh hiiii.” Whatever it was cooed again at her tone and Anita held her breath, heart pounding for a completely different reason now. “You’ve been kept in this pod thing like this the whole time?”

She questioned mostly to herself, as it seemed not to be able to speak actual words. It tilted its head, large green ears the size of her hands flopping a little at the tips and it made another sound as it reached its hands out to her.

Anita could almost burst out into tears, it wanted to be held and it looked so heartbrokenly neglected. She immediately swooped it from the weird metal bassinet thing and cradled it to her chest, wondering if her heart could break anymore when it closed its eyes and tapped its small green finger to the sound of her heartbeat.

“Oh honey, they’ve been treating you horridly haven’t they?” at this, it’s hands bunched in her lab coat. The creature was obviously quite frightened, confused as to why it was so important to the other things and Anita had chosen her path in this new galaxy, right by this child’s side for as long as it needed her.

“There’s no need to be afraid anymore. I am your mother now and I will protect you.”


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita can’t operate doors and she gets to see more of Arvala-7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This character swears a lot in british. XD

The Niktos, as Anita came to figure out they were called that, were rude, uncaring, and didn’t much like her stubbornness when it came to the child. They provided what she needed and nothing else, this included only one other pair of clothes to change into so she could wash her original ones.

No shoes because the Nikto’s deemed her high heels as suitable enough to be her only pair of shoes…ever. the second pair of clothes only included a brown shirt too big for her and a pair of what looked to be trousers…cut at the knee: also brown. Anita almost threw them back in their faces but instead chose to bear them if only for the baby’s benefit.

It had been what seemed like months since her first arrival on what she now knew to be Arvala- 7 and had been near enough miserable the entire time. The only saving grace was Scamp, the little green baby she’d hastily decided to become a mother for and he was better off with her around.

He enjoyed what little time she had managed to garner for him outside. Chasing the tiny creatures in the sand before the Nikto’s would ruin the fun, taking them back inside the dark and cold room they spend most of their time in.

He seemed to enjoy the endearment name she’d given him as well, responding immediately the first time she’d said it and actively seeming like he always wanted to hear it.

Anita’s motherly tendencies had always been her gift, her best friend was a single mother of three triplets and needed all the help she could get with the little terrors. But something about this child had connected with Anita in more than just a motherly manner, she was protective and overly so when it came to just about anything near the child.

The food they brought was disgusting. Scamp ate it just fine but Anita had trouble swallowing it let alone getting her stomach to keep it down and after a while, ended up getting used to it.

It was still disgusting though.

The sun rose and set and on each day Anita wondered if she would ever see more than just the sandy horizon from this encampment. She wanted to find a way home, back to her friends, her family, and a normal… non-captive life.

It was yet another day of boredom inside after the Nikto’s had forced her and Scamp back in from playing in the sand. They seemed quite rushed as if another person had come to shoot up the camp.

At this point, there are had been so many fights at this place that Anita wasn’t sure if the Nikto’s were bad, or the people shooting were bad. The Nikto’s had always won though, and always further cemented the fact that they were still bad.

None of them had ever been so on edge and Anita assumed they had something a lot of people wanted. The days outside were spent in less time, Anita was kept in a different building of the encampment most nights to avoid Scamp becoming overly attached to her as if it hadn’t already happened.

The gunshots had started early in the day before she had been allowed to see her child. Anita was yelling, banging on the doors for them to let her out and get to Scamp and they were all a bit too busy with something called an ‘I.G unit’.

Left all alone in the silence of the room as the gunshots stopped. Anita’s worry for Scamp increased as one more lone shot rang out and she started jabbing the buttons on the wall. The Nikto’s had never let her seen how to open the doors, always making sure it was hidden in case she ever wanted to risk her and Scamps life on the barren desert of Arvala-7.

Crying out in frustration Anita screamed into her hands, “How the fuck do you open this fucking thing!” she slammed her hands against the panel as if it would help more, jumping in surprise when the door actually slid open. She huffed in amusement to herself before running from the building to find Scamp.

Anita cared nothing for the Nikto bodies all around her, looking nowhere else but her destination. Running into the larger building where Scamp was usually kept yielded nothing but a dead Nikto and a damaged robot on the floor. The metal egg and Scamp were gone.

Anita almost burst into tears until she saw the footprints in the sand. Someone had left with Scamp in his egg and she hoped they hadn’t gotten far, it hadn’t been long between the gunshot and her freedom but if they had a vehicle; then they were gone and she was alone.“

Snatching her bag from the pile of stuff against the wall, Anita turned and followed the footprints. The hot sand hurt her bare feet as usual but she hadn’t thought to see if any of the Nikto bodies had a suitable pair of shoes, her mind only on finding Scamp.

Ten minutes is all it took between the gunshot and her freedom and ten minutes is all it took to finally see a figure and the floating Egg pod on the horizon. Slowing her breaths, Anita tried to run as quietly as she could, The sand was silent under her feet, and her controlled breaths wouldn’t be heard until she was right on top of him.

Scamp laughed joyfully as he watched Anita appear and jump onto the back of the metal man who had come for him. Clapping his hands together, overjoyed to finally see his so-called mother back with him as he was unable to tell the metal man he even had a caretaker.

She heard the man gasp in surprise under the mask, unable to get any leverage on her before she threw her entire weight backwards into the ground and taking him with her. He took her arm from around his neck and pulled it away easily, rolling away from her and trying to get a good look at the person who attacked him so suddenly.

He barely got a good look before the woman threw her flat left hand towards his neck, throwing her right hand to his stomach when he caught the left. He noted she was quick, she took his armor into account and went for his soft parts; glad she couldn’t see the relief on his face when he caught the leg going for his crotch.

’'Enough!”

The scene stood still, Scamp still laughing and clapping away. He held Anita’s leg between his own just under his knees, both her hands held in his tightly and both their chest heaving for breaths.

“Give him to me.”

“Who are you.” His voice was deep, modulated a little by the helmet he wore. In her mind, Anita couldn’t believe what she had just done, she had only seen videos and movies, and yet when the time came; she managed to pull off at least a few of the moves she had seen.

“Who am I? Who are you?!” She fired right back, far too engrossed with the moment to be scared. “You come into camp, you kill everyone, take my child and then have the audacity to demand my name? I don’t fucking think so!”

He was silent for a while, his helmet turning to look at Scamp, who had since stop laughing to listen to the conversation. He took the time to look over her as well, noting her blue hair with brown roots, the tight, dirty black skirt, and pink wrinkly shirt. The way the child held his grip on the white coat inside his pod while looking towards her with a smile.

“You’re his mother?”

“No I’m his nan - of course, I’m his fucking mother, dipshit. Let me go!” He only tightened his grip when she tried to pull away and repeated his earlier question. “Anita D'arcy. Scientist, Mother…fucking universe traveler -let me go, iron man, shit!”

He sighed heavily, dropping all Anita’s limbs that he had captive and letting her go to the child. Watching her crouch in front of the pod to get a look over the baby in case he was harmed in some way, witnessing the way the child held his hands out for her and cooing when she picked him up.

“You still haven’t told me who you are.”

“A Mandalorian”

“A fucking what now?” She reeled back at what he said, never expecting the word to be that long. She gently rocked Scamp in her arms as she stared at the Mandalorian with raised eyebrows.

He sighed again, “A Mandalorian. Just call me Mando.” He turned around and started walking, the pod following behind him as empty as it usually was during the days. “Let’s go.”

He expected this to be the end. He expected silence in the journey ahead but no, Anita continued to speak, as confused as the day she arrived on the planet.

“But that’s not your name? Is that your species? Your job? Title? Elaborate. Where are we going? what are we doing? I’m not following a man in armor to me and my child’s death, thank you.”

Once again sighing, he turned and quick as a flash, locked her wrists in a pair of cuffs before continuing on his journey. Anita made a surprised sound, mouth agape at what he had just done.

“fucking rude much. I was only asking questions. This is not gonna shut me up, Manny. The Nikto’s didn’t speak English and Scamp can’t speak at all, so you’re my only source of entertainment. You might as well answer my questions.”

“It is not my name. I am human, I was raised as a Mandalorian. We are going to Nevarro. Does that satisfy you?”

Anita’s tongue pushed against the roof of her mouth, he sounded annoyed and she thought it best if she didn’t annoy the only person within a hundred miles to the point of murdering her. “Sure.” 

Holding Scamp with the cuffs was difficult but she refused to drop him back into the pod that could be controlled by a man who refused to say more than a few words. Eventually, though, she had to put Scamp back in to rest her arms and it was too hot to keep him close by to her chest.

It was the single most boring journey up until the point where they were in a canyon of sorts. Anita had never felt so unsafe despite the man with the giant gun on his back. She stopped when he did, glad that he had realized something was off, not at all surprised when a person jumped down from above.

He was quick to react, pushing the pod away from the fight and Anita followed it without hesitation. Scamp fell back into the pod, her lab coat’s sleeve flinging with the pod’s motion and Anita’s still cuffed hands took a hold of the sleeve.

Scamp was sitting on it, so it had enough weight to be moved by the sleeve should it need to be. Two more people arrived and Anita wondered if perhaps she should help, the thought had left her once an enemy made its way in her and Scamp’s direction.

As much as she didn’t want to be hurt herself, she couldn’t let it touch Scamp, so she stood herself in front of the pod, ready to try and block the attack. Surprised and relieved when the person coming to attack them burst into nothing.

She meant to ask him about the gun, but something was making noise and blinking up at her “What is that?”

“A tracking fob.”

“A track- I thought- what is this exactly?”

“My job. Come on.”

Anita stared at the Mandalorians back, unable to conjure the right words to string together. Not that he would tell her anything anyway, the man was course and barely looked more than two seconds in their direction; but she had to follow as Scamp’s pod floated away.

From her bag trapped on her shoulder, Anita managed to pull out the bottled water she’d kept for emergencies and placed it in Scamp’s pod. He knew how to drink from it, she’d taught him how to ages ago.

She didn’t trust this Mandalorian, her only options being to go with him or die but it didn’t mean she had to trust a single hair or…weapon on this man’s person. She was going to stay by Scamp’s side the entire journey and he would let her whether he liked it or not.


	3. The Jawas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita’s adventure truly starts.

“We’ll rest here for the night”

Anita groaned in relief and dropped to the floor, still cuffed hands going to her red and sore feet. Scamp cooed sadly from his pod and his ears dropped when Anita looked at him. “I’m okay, sweetheart, promise.”

It got dark in what seemed like no time at all, the sun just under the horizon, and All Anita could hear was the Mandalorian’s pained noises. She might’ve offered to help if she wasn’t still distrustful of him, it was only his arm after all and it didn’t look too bad.

She’d fed Scamp, gave him a drink and he seemed bored, unable to run about like he was used to doing with his mother. He looked at Anita as she chewed on something she’d stolen from the encampment before looking to the metal man who seemed in pain, deciding to do something about it, Scamp started to fidget.

She saw him moving out of the corner of her eye, saw him drop from out of the pod, and head towards the Mandalorian. Intrigued, she watched Scamp raise his arm and squint his eyes only fearing once the Mandalorian took Scamp’s hand and picked him up.

Only to be surprised at his gentle drop into the pod, leaving the child there. So perhaps he wasn’t as coarse and harsh as she first thought him to be, something about Scamp had already wormed its way into his armor, it was only a matter of a time before it reached his heart.

Scamp’s second attempt to help yielded the same result, It also had Anita laughing quietly to herself when the man shut the pod with Scamp inside. At least now the little bugger had to sleep.

“I can help with that if you take these off.” She lifted her hands to show the cuffs “They’re starting to hurt and I promise I won’t jump on you again.”

“It’s fine”

“It’s not fine. It won’t get better like that, at least let me clean it.”

He looked at her for a few seconds, debating the options in his head. She hadn’t done anything else since arriving out of nowhere except care for the baby. In the end, he relented and released her hands from the cuffs and watched as she took the last of her water and used it to clean his wound.

“You know, that whole situation when I found you was a complete fluke.” she chuckled to herself mostly as she dabbed his wound dry gently. “I can’t fight at all but you were walking off with my child and I had to do something. Honestly, I didn’t think I could take but I was gonna try.”

“You were smart. Avoiding the beskar.”

“Well, I didn’t want to break my hand.” Anita was grinning, checking over the wound for the last time. “Cause you know I only have two and I need them.”

It was silent again, He didn’t reply to her but she had a question on her mind.

“Whoever you’re taking him to…” He turned to face her, the only indication he was looking was that his helmet seemed to bore right into her soul. “What will they do with me? I’m only on this planet by accident and then Nikto’s found me and told me to care for him. I don’t-I’m scared.”

Again he was silent, she assumed to try and find an answer that wouldn’t make her panic but his silence was doing that already.

“You’re his mother. I’m sure they’ll keep you around him.”

“And then I need to find a way home!” Anita looked away, her face scrunched as if trying not to cry. Shuffling away from him. “But I don’t want to leave him but I have to go home, I have godchildren, my friends, my house. I can’t stay and I can’t take him with me because he’s green.”

He was sure Anita would have had a full breakdown if the child hadn’t started to cry from within the pod. Anita’s ramblings stopped as did the appearance of tears in her eyes when her attention diverted to him Immediately.

She opened the pod and shushed the child, hands either side of the pod and gently rocking it side to side. He stilled in his bed, looking up at her with sad eyes and the beginnings of his own crying fit; The Mandalorian prepared for the loud screams but instead, Anita started to sing.

La la lu, La la lu. Oh, my little star sweeper. I’ll sweep the stardust for you. La la lu, La la lu.

She was a good person. He could see that and some part of him didn’t want to hand her over to the likes of the client. He saw the love she had for the child, the love the child had for her and he knew she would be devastated when they were separated.

His lie would be found out, she’ll hate him but it was a job he had to do. For now, he enjoyed the sound of her soft singing as much as the child.

Little soft fluffy sleeper. Here comes a pink cloud for you. La la lu, La la lu.Little wandering angel Fold up your wings close your eyes

The child had calmed, his eyes drooping down as the familiar song she sung set him off to sleep. The Mandalorian had never heard it but the soft tones that followed on the words were enough to know he’d go the same way as the child did if he wasn’t focused on his armor.

La la lu, La la lu And may love be your keeper La la lu, La la lu, La la lu

She closed the pod the instant she finished to protect Scamp from the noises of the Mandalorians fixings. Anita’s own eyes dropping closed, the exhaustion of the day reaping the seeds it had sown and there she herself drifted to sleep; forehead pressed against the metal of the pod.

He had gone through her bag while she slept, heavier than he expected to lift. Inside were some familiar items, food packets, water but some were not so familiar. Two rectangles, black on one side and pink and blue on the other.

Wires, one white and the other black. A weird stick, pop off the lid and it smelt…strange and he couldn’t place it. Small tubes he assumed was makeup, it did say the words ‘Eye’ and 'lip’ on them.

He kept pulling things out, it wasn’t that large of a bag but yet seemed like a black hole of just …stuff. deciding none of what was inside could be used as a weapon, The Mandalorian placed everything back inside and put the bag back with its owner.

He almost hated to wake her up, to force her closer to the separation she’ll experience when they get to Nevarro. She was groggy, her backed ached and her shoulders clicked as she stretched out her arms.

He noticed her feet a long time ago, the way she tried to take small steps and yet keep up with him at the same time while also trying to feed the kid. Walking along the hot floor seemed to hurt her and yet she kept on going, he tried to think if he had any shoes somewhere on the ship for her.

Not that his ship was all that useful at the moment. After walking for a while, Anita stopped behind him as he took the rifle looking weapon from his back, kneeling and pointing it down the ridge at a ship, where some …small beings were doing something.

“what are they?” Anita asked as he fired his rifle, disintegrating one of them. “The small one is your…spaceship?” 

“Jawas” The Mandalorian fired another shot after reloading, Anita noted the rifle seemed to only use one charge at a time. “And yes.”

“Manny, your ship looks wrecked.”

After the third kill, the Mandalorian took off running down the small ridge and towards the big fortress the Jawas had retreated into. Anita sighed but ran after him and the pod that followed whether she liked it or not, her feet burning with pain and yet she didn’t want to leave Scamp with him.

“You want me to hold your gun, Manny?” She watched him fire another shot at the moving fortress before he carelessly threw the weapon her way and continued to run after his ship parts.

For a moment, Anita was stood still and struck dumb by how fast he actually gave her the weapon. She assumed his ship was more important than her imaginary mutiny he knew she wouldn’t commit.

“Oh he’s-okay.”’ She ran after the pod, noticing it got too far away and witnessed her only source of life on the planet was trying to climb a moving vehicle. He narrowly missed being throw off by a close wall, and the Jawas started to throw random metal stuff down at him.

Anita continued to keep pace by the pod, the empty gun in her hand. Normally, Anita didn’t have trouble running, she was quite fit and enjoyed a run in the mornings; yet her now bleeding feet slowed her down, caused her to bounce each step she took and she was finding it hard to breathe.

Huffing out in relief as the Mandalorian reached the top of the fortress, hoping she didn’t have to jump over any more Jawa bodies. Though the relief was short-lived as his visage seemed to glow with blue light before he dropped backward, hitting the ground below with a hard thunk.

Anita cringed as he hit the ground, the pod stopping nearby but she kept going to drop by the man’s side, the rifle was forgotten on the floor under the pod. She touched the chest plate of his armor, pulling her hand back as her fingers were zapped by lingering electricity.

Hissing with surprise rather than the pain she shoved her hand under his helmet, pulling down the fabric around his neck and pressing two fingers hard just under his jaw; checking for a pulse he still had.

Scamp made a noise from the side and she looked over to give him a smile. “He’s alright. He just got a bit of a jolt.” Anita herself got a jolt when he suddenly moved, awake and in pain. “You good, Manny?”

He said nothing. Only sat up, looked around, and made sure his helmet was still on. Groaning as he stood up with her following, he walked back into the direction they came from and she assumed it was to return to his ship.

The hull had a few holes in it from where the Jawas had stripped it of its metal. The Mandalorian made a few frustrated sounds and slammed some doors, understandably mad that his ship was wrecked.

She followed him to what she assumed was the cockpit, he sat down in the middle seat and pushed buttons, flicked levers. There was sputtering, the ship wasnt able to take off and he gave up, disappearing back down the ladder.

“Dude, they got you good. This place is a mess.” Anita jumped from the cockpit, forgoing using the ladder. The Mandalorian had Scamp in his arms, moving to leave the ship and go somewhere else with them since his mode of transportation was unusable.

“We gotta get your shit back man. I hate this planet.”

“Are your feet okay?”

“No, they’re fucked.” Anita laughed, though, to him, it sounded more like a pained whine. “But if what you’re actually asking is ’'can I walk” then the answer is yes. You are not carrying me.“ 

’'I wasn’t going to.”

Anita made a face at him from behind, still following to whenever the next destination was set. The sun was setting and was near fully got when they arrived at a camp, someone of yet another race was fixing a tall, metal pole.

“I thought you were dead.”

“He almost was.” Anita giggled to herself. “My name is Anita. It’s …nice to meet you.” Though confused and still afraid.

“I am Kuiil” he replied, starting to climb down from the pole. He was small like a child and yet his face wasn’t child-like at all. when he was finally on the ground and in front of her, he noticed her feet immediately. ’'You are injured.“

’'Hm? oh yeh, just a little.”

“Sit. I will bring you supplies.”

“Oh no its-”

“I have spoken.” Anita opened and closed her mouth dumbly, looking to Manny to help her but it just continued to stand there, silent as the grave. Kuiil hadn’t said it rudely, it seemed more like a mannerism of his speech more than a rude demand that he was going to help.

Scamp had crawled down from inside his pod, playing with the small froglike creatures that hopped around while Anita tended to her feet with the supplies Kuiil had brought her. 

“This is what was causing all the fuss?”

“I thinks it’s a child.”

“He is a child.” Anita butted in, wiping the blood clean from her sore feet. “his fifty years must be at least…8? maybe younger judging by the interest in slimy friends.”

“It is best to deliver it alive then.”

“him”

“My ship has been destroyed. I’m trapped here.” The Mandalorian ignored her correction. Anita rolled her eyes, bandaging up her feet while the two men talked. She wasn[’t looking forward to yet another journey across the planet for his ship parts.

But where Scamp went, so did she.

“Hey, spit that out.”

Anita smiled at Scamp, who had caught his frog finally and shoved it face-first into his mouth. Leaning back his head, he swallowed it alive and looked to his mother with pride on his face.

Anita giggled, clapping as she was indeed proud of her little alien son. Though it was very gross, she couldn’t help but find it incredibly cute.

The child was too cute.


	4. The Mudhorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita passes the eye of the storm.

Kuiil had given her a cloak and a pair of ratty old shoes to wear to protect her healing feet. Thankfully enough the cloak kept her dry from the rain that had decided to appear on their journey to find the Jawas.

The blurgg, as they had called it, was dragging a large… Anita was going to call it boat because that’s what it looked like. It’s what she and the Mandalorian were sat on… in the rain.

Luckily enough, Scamp was more than content to stay hidden inside his pod, safe from being pelted with falling water. It rained all through the night but somewhere during the journey she had fallen asleep, woken only when the sun had reared its ugly head.

“They really don’t like you for some reason.” she heard Kuiil speak, addressing the Mandalorian who was still sat in the same position as when they had left.

“Well I did disintegrate a few of them.” Anita rolled her eyes at his reply to Kuiil opening the pod to check on Scamp, who was already awake and waiting to go. He crawled out of his pod and into her lap, looking up at her and fiddling with the jewellery around her neck.

Kuiil had told The Mandalorian to drop his weapon and after little arguing, he reluctantly did so. She stayed with the child on the makeshift vehicle as Kuiil and Mando went to talk to the Jawas about getting his parts back. Scamp seemed interested in everything going on whilst also clinging onto the crystal hanging from his mothers neck.

Anita watched them calmly, noting that the Mandalorian’s weapons were close by should she need to use or throw them to him. Squinting with annoyance as they mocked him for his broken Jawa he tried to speak, amused when he tried to fry a few alive.

Though her guard was instantly up and her arms wrapped around Scamp when two Jawas came up to them, interested in the green creature in her lap. Anita’s eyes darted to the gun left beside her when a sudden shout called out.

“Get away from them!”

It was only a minute later when they started chanting something in their language. Excited when the deal was struck and everyone was ushered onto their crawling fortress.

“What do they want?”

“An egg.” The Mandalorian replied.

“An…egg?”

She sat between him and a Jawa in the fortress as it made its journey to wherever this egg was. Only slightly creeped out by the one who drawled out the word in his language whilst staring at the Mandalorian.

They stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere but Anita thought the entire planet was near enough deserted, so she trusted the Jawa’s enough to assume they knew where to go. She, Scamp, Kuiil and the Mandalorian were stood by the door as it dropped waiting to leave to find the egg.

He moved and the pod followed, but as Anita went to take her steps to follow, he stopped and turned to look at her. “You’re staying.”

Anita smiled sweetly, hummed out her laughter and shook her head. “No.”

He watched her walk past him, bag on her shoulders still and though impressed that she was ready to face whatever dangers awaited them, she was still injured. “You are still hurt.”

“No more hurt than I was without the shoes. Thank you, kuiil!” Anita bent slightly over the pod, making sure her white lab coat was cushion enough for Scamp to be comfortable on. “He’s going? I’m going. Bye now, I actually want off this planet.”

She gripped onto the pod with one hand and dragged it off into a direction, intent on getting the egg herself if he was just going to sit there and complain that she shouldn’t go. She heard him sigh, his armour making noises as he approached and took her upper arm in his hand. 

“It’s this way.”

Smiling in victory, yet surprised at the gentle hold he had gripped her with, she followed him with little care. Warming up to the man hadn’t been all that hard, he barely spoke, hadn’t cared to annoy her with anything and only kept them safe from harm.

She had no idea who she would be with when they got to Nevarro, but she hoped they were as gentle as the Mandalorian seemed to be. After walking for another long while, he finally stopped in a crater, there was a hole in the side of the sand wall where Anita assumed the egg would be.

“Wait here this time.” He told her, lifting his arm and fiddling with something. She wanted to argue but held her tongue since the pod stayed next to her when he walked away. Anita had a bad feeling about this, something about the whole area screamed danger, but she didn’t want to leave Scamp alone to fetch their protector.

Jumping in her spot when he fired in gun and then once more when he was thrown from the hole. Something roared then showed itself, large and Rhino like except it was covered in …moss like hair and mud.

The Mandalorian tried to prepare his gun and fire it but was hit by the horn of the space Rhino and was thrown backwards again. Anita scrunched her face and hissed as though she had felt the pain herself.

His gun knocked away from him, the Space rhino turned its attentions on Scamp and herself, her heart dropping into her stomach. The pod was moved away from her and out of danger at the wave of his arm, and he yelled out as Anita didn’t move until the last minute to avoid the creature turning at the last moment, instead going face-first into the wall behind her.

Attention back on the Mandalorian, Anita wondered what she could do to help as if she had any fightings skills whatsoever. She worried about him, none of his weapons are defences were affective, and she could feel something within her stirring. A pain and a fear of actually losing the one person who seemed to helping, who seemed to have a heart.

Scamp looked up at the woman who cared for him, seeing her step forward in hesitation, her face contorted in worry and he himself wanted to do something. The woman who had adopted him and treated him like her own son had never cried, had never expressed a fear such as this and he wanted nothing more than to stop the tear she didn’t even know was trailing down her cheek.

The creature brace and prepared to charge, The Mandalorian pulled a tiny knife from his side and took his own last stand but before the creature could hit him, it stopped and struggled. Lifting into the air as though some invisible force was doing it, both pairs of eyes turning to look down at the child in his pod who had a hand reached out.

Anita panicked when Scamp dropped his hand and fell back, checking him over for injuries as the Mandalorian won the fight against the creature. Satisfied that her child was merely exhausted and sleeping, she turned her attentions as she dropped her bag next to the pod. 

“Manny!” her feet slipped in the mud, but she hardly cared for as she slipped to her knees to next to him. “Are you okay? Any bones broken or gashes that need cleaning? Your head hurt? I’ll close my eyes, and you take of the helmet to check for wounds!?”

Glad the helmet kept her from seeing his confused face as she searched him over for injuries, he gently caught her wrists in his hands and, though she couldn’t see it, smiled gently. “I’m fine. The child-”

“He’s fine! He’s sleeping! Whatever he did, it exhausted him.” She glanced over to her boy sleeping in his boy. “did you feel it? The energy in the air?” she watched his helmet shake from side to side, confusing her.

Anita did feel it in the air, the raw energy that swirled in the atmosphere in a way that she could have touched had she just lifted her own hands. She tried to help him up, but what with the mud so slippery, they only ended up crashing to the floor again, covering her in just as much mud as he was covered in.

He disappeared inside the cave again and reappeared with the egg in hand. The pod following him once again as they made the journey back to the Jawa’s and Kuiil.

“He’s never done that before.”

Anita shook her head. “No. I’ve never seen him do anything like that. But it now tells me why the Nikto’s were so hell-bent on keeping him.” He hummed in reply, not another word said between them even when they arrived back to the Jawas.

They seemed happy to see the egg, cheering and when they had it, they cracked it open and began to scoop out its contents like Pooh bear and jar of honey. Anita rested on the thing she had been calling a boat and when all his ship parts were piled on, she rested back against them.

She pulled Scamps pod in close, closed her eyes and drifted off as though his own energy bending had exhausted her as well. They were working on the ship when she woke up, watching them contently and learning as she tried to feed Scamp while he slept.

The ship slowly but surely ended up looking pretty cool, and she couldn’t wait to see it turned on. Exploring its little characteristics while the two men talked.

“Thank you for the shoes and medical supplies, Kuiil! I hope to see you again!” Kuiil waved from the blurrg and Anita climbed the ladder into the cockpit, sitting in the passenger chair. Leg’s bouncing excitedly as the Mandalorian pushed the pod into her lap and prepared to turn on his ship.

The rumble of the engines were almost as loud as the heartbeat in her ears, The ship lifted from the ground and flew off into the sky.

“Oh wow.” The Mandalorian looked over at Anita as he heard the whisper, seeing her eyes scouring the vast darkness of space, the numerous stars, and he could see the slight sheen ion her eyes.

“You act like you’ve never seen space before.”

“Not like this.” She replied. “Only ever from the ground. Space travel was limited to our moon on my planet. We’re nowhere near this advanced on space travel -” She lifted her feet slightly “-medical supplies. Bacta? Amazing.” 

“you must have felt out of place.”

“Very. But it’s nice to see this now, before you hand us over to whoever. I doubt space travel is gonna be in my future when we get to Nevarro.”

He felt guilty all of a sudden, remembering how he’d lied to her. The client wasn’t going to need her for whatever they needed the child for and she wasn’t going to be happy about it at all. Whatever trust she had built up for him was going to be torn down, shredded and eaten by the anger she’ll direct at him.

The gentle cooing of the child distracted Anita from asking anymore questions. He told her where she could clean up and she took the child with her, leaving him to wallow in his own guilt.


	5. The Client

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita swears up her own storm

The pod left to the side, Scamp sat on Anita's lap staring at the shiny metal ball, he climbed down under her watchful eyes and every step he took towards his goal he waited for her to stop him. 

''Mando, I've received your transmission. Wonderful news. Upon your return, deliver the quarry directly to the client. I have no idea if he wants to eat it or hang it on his wall, but he's very antsy. Safe passage! You know where to find me.'' 

''Thee client isn't going to eat him or hang him on his wall.'' 

''For your sake, I hope so. Because if this ends up anything other than how you said, I will take all your rifle and shove it so far up your ass that I can fire it out of your mouth towards this client.''

''Colourful'' He replied, turning to look at the child who was playing with the metal ball. ''That's not a toy.''

He could already feel the trust she had dwindling, after the message, there was no way she wasn't going to have her guard up. The silence was tense, even as he landed the ship, she said nothing. Opting to stay by the child's side as she followed him to the client, ready to cause a scene. 

Nevarro was far more lively than Arvala-7, and she could see many more species than the three she had been presented with on Arvala- 7. Eventually, the bustling area turns into a dank and empty alleyway where The Mandalorian stops at a door. 

He knocked and something came out of the wall beside the door, the area was much too dark for anything good to come out of. Two men in armour came out of the opened door and even though she didn't much care for it, the Mandalorian's hand on her back provided some little comfort. 

''Easy with that.''

''You take it easy'' The soldier replied snarkily, still manhandling the pod as though there wasn't a living being in it. She was between the pod and the man she wanted to hit repeatedly with a blunt object, forced to be little more than a decorative piece. 

''Yes.'' An older man spoke the moment the next door opened, eyes fixed on the pod and Scamp inside. He got up from his chair with a beeping fob in his hands, excited to see Scamp and Anita knew it wasn't for good reasons. ''Yes, yes, yes.''

Anita took a step forward and lifted her hand slightly as a younger man came up and shoved a bright light in Scamp's face, only just being caught by the Mandalorian. ''Very healthy. yes.''

''Your reputation was not unwarranted.'' The old man spoke, standing straight and looking towards the bounty hunter. 

''How many fobs did you give out?''

''This asset was of extreme importance to me. I had to ensure its delivery.'' the old man moved back to his table, lifting from under it, a white canister. ''But to the winner, go the spoils.'' 

Anita's heart broke from its already crumbling as she took in the sight of the metal ingots sat inside the canister. The way the bounty hunter she had worried over had picked them up. She hadn't even been looked at by anyone, he was going to let them take her child from her. 

''Such a large bounty for such a small package.'' 

''No!'' the bounty hunter knew he would regret the moment he let her go. The way she jumped forward and gripped onto the pod as they tried to take it away. 

''Who is this?''

''It's caretaker. She's ...grown attached.'' The Mandalorian was hesitant, reluctant to give Anita the caretaker title after seeing her care so well for the child.

''Mother! I'm his mother.'' She was angry, but she knew no amount of anger was going to help her against several people with guns. She only wanted them to know that she wouldn't just walk away and let them have him. 

''I've no need for the woman. Do with her what you will.'' 

The Mandalorian turned immediately, removing her white knuckles from around the pod and cuffing them together like usual. She screamed her disagreement in his face, his arm wrapping tightly around her waist to keep her from running after the pod as the younger man led it away. Scamp cried out for his mother, the energy in the room rising as she felt his fear. 

''No! He's my son! I will kill everyone to get him back.'' The tears running down her face made it unsure if they should be afraid or amused at the distraught woman begging to have a green creature back in her care. But they ignored it as much as they could, relying on the Mandalorian's strength to keep her under control.

''What are your plans for it?'' it came out before he could stop himself, evidently a little more attached than he should've been.

''How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation. You have taken both commission and payment. Is it not the code of the guild that these events are now forgotten?''

More of the soldiers in white armour entered the room, the Mandalorian felt more uneasy at the now suddenly calm woman he was still holding at his side. Anita's breathing was still deep but she was no longer vocal or crying. 

''The beskar is enough to make a handsome replacement for your armour. Unfortunately, finding and Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel.''

The Mandalorian closed the canister and picked it up, none too carefully wrenching Anita's feet from the floor to carry her out as well to avoid her breaking free and trying to find the child. 

As soon as the door closed behind them, with no other way to get into the building, he dropped Anita to the floor. 

''You're a heartless bastard.'' She said calmly. ''You son of a bitch. You lied to me! You made me think I wouldn't have to say goodbye! How could you!?'' 

He said nothing, only grabbed the surrounding cuffs on her wrists and dragged her along with him. ''I don't want to go anywhere with you! I'd rather be lost on Arvala-7 than anywhere with you!'' 

He pulled her in close when they reached the market, her breath fogging up the outside of his helmet as she stared defiantly into where she thought his eyes would be. ''Shh.'' 

''Don't fucking shush me. Who the fuck do you think you are?'' 

He sighed but was glad when she did quiet down enough for him to lead her down a set of stairs. It was dark and there were a few others dressed like him around. Anita assumed this was a hidden convent of some kind considering the old man seemed to think her captor was the only one around. 

He forced her down onto the floor and pointed sternly. ''The fuck to do think I'm gonna go with handcuffs on? Moron.'' 

He disappeared into a nearby room, with some of the others following after a moment. The ones left in the hallway stared at her, speaking in a language she had never heard but this was not an unusual occurrence.

''What's the deal with helmets?'' She asked them, nodding towards the fact that everyone was wearing some form of a helmet. 

''We can not remove our helmets in front of another living creature.'' 

''Sucks for you. Religion?'' 

They nodded and Anita turned away from them when she heard the sudden noises of forgery. Eyebrows crinkling in confusion, she was supposed to sit there while he had new armour made? The cuffs around her wrists starting to cut into the skin, having been put on a bit too tightly in his rush to control her. 

Bored and annoyed, glaring at anyone who so much as glanced her way she ended up just leaning against the wall, closing her eyes and waiting for the asshole who was dragging her along. 

She could feel it. The eyes on her, the breath so close yet hidden behind the helmet she'd come to find familiar. ''Dude. Get the fuck away from me.''

The strange Mandalorian physically jolted, surprised by the colourful language and annoyance she had shown. True, Anita only really swore when she was in a bad mood, but she was British, so it came with the hardware.

''Big talk for a little one. Handcuffed.'' 

''I can still shove my foot up your ass.'' He laughed with her reply, turning to look at his friends. ''Or there may not be enough room considering your head is already there.'' 

The stranger lifted her cuffed hands, forcing her to her feet but whatever he was going to say died on his tongue when a shiny new Mandalorian stepped into the situation. ''Release her.'' 

''Woah, Manny. I didn't recognize you, look at you all shiny and new.'' Anita smiled, still held by the stranger. ''But you still stink of betrayal and murder.''

The stranger chuckled, amused by her. ''I didn't think you had it in you to get a whore.'' 

''Yeah, you know. It was a toss-up between me and your mother, but I was just better looking, so he chose me.'' He was mad, understandably so, but she avoided any hit coming her way when another arm circled her waist and carried her off. 

''You shouldn't have said that.''

''I am going to say whatever I fucking want. I have that right because you know, you took my son from me.'' 

He sighed, dropping her feet to the floor in town and pulling her along by the bag instead of the cuffs, knowing that his touch was probably the last thing she wanted. Inside another building, Anita got a feel for just how many people wanted this bounty, everyone inside watched as he walked by, eyeing the new armour . 

''Ah, Mando!'' Someone greeted him. A black man that seemed far too happy for the atmosphere in the pub-like building. The Mandalorian pushed her into the seat first before standing protectively next to her. 

''They all hate you Mando, Because you're a legend.'' Anita quietly mocked the man to herself, turning her legs away from both of them. 

''How many of them had tracking fobs?''

The man scoffed. ''All of them. All of them! But none of them closed the deal. Only you, Mando. Only you.'' Anita could feel the tears rising, the burning sensation in her nose caused her to scrunch and draw the attention of her successful bounty hunter.

''and with it, the richest reward this parsec has ever seen. Please, sit, my friend.'' The Mandalorian took his rifle off his back and placed it in front of him as he sat down next to her. ''They're all weighing the Beskar in their minds, but not me. No. I, for one, I celebrate your success. Because it is my success as well. Hell, even I am rich.''

Anita's head turned to look at the couple of Beskar ingots the man pulled from his coat. ''Fuck you.'' 

Taken aback by her sudden declaration of hate, he turned to his friend. ''Mando, who is this?'' 

''Scamp's mother. Anita d'Arcy.'' He turned to look at her. ''This is Greef karga.'' 

Anita gasped mockingly. '' You remember his name? The name I lovingly gave him before you traded his life for Beskar ingots?'' 

''Scamp?''

''You got a problem with how I named my son?'' Karga shook his head but didn't say anything. ''Good. Do not address me again.''

''Now, How can I show my Gratitude to my most valuable partner?'' Karga was disturbed a little but thought it best to steer the conversation back to Mando and cut her from it. 

''I want my next job.'' 

''Next job? take some time off. Enjoy yourself. I'll take you to the Twi'lek healing baths.'' Anita mimed throwing up, she didn't know what the 'Twi'lek healing baths' were but she could gather as much from the way he'd spoken it.

''I want my next job.''

''Sure. fine. You hunters like to keep busy, right. Well, these are all far away.'' Karga reluctantly agreed, opening a bag and pouring a few cylindrical discs onto the table. 

As they conversed about a nobleman who skipped bail, Anita had the crushing realisation that 'Manny' as she had dubbed him was going to take her with him, to everywhere he went. She would be on his ship on a different planet with no other way of returning to Nevarro to get her son. 

He slid from his seat, pulling the depressed woman with him and stopped for a moment, asking the question that had been swimming in his head. Near feeling the weight of which Anita looked up at him when she heard the words. ''Any idea what they're gonna do with it.'' 

''With what?'' 

''The kid.'' 

''I didn't ask. It's against the guild code.''

''They work for the empire. What are they doing here?'' 

Anita was wide-eyed and intently listening. The hope within her heart lifting as she thought perhaps, he was feeling guilty. 

''The empire is gone, Mando. All that are left are mercenaries and warlords. But if it bothers you, just go back to the core and report them to the New Republic.'' 

''That's a joke.'' 

Anita couldn't see it, but the way his eyes had glanced her face, seeing her wide hopeful eyes staring at him did make him feel bad for just walking away from the child so easily. He noted that he no longer had to drag her along with him, she followed behind him, staring holes into the back of his helmet the whole way back. 

Sitting quietly into the passenger seat, eyes rapidly moving over him as he turned his engines o. Breath halted in her chest as he reached for but paused over the lever in which the kid had taken the metal ball from.

He turned to find it, picked up and after a moment of looking at it, put it back on the lever and pushed. Anita's eyes burned again, still not breathing as she waited for his decision and cried out in relief the moment he pulled the lever back, powering down his engines. 

He took the hands from her face where they're had flung to muffle the cries and removed the cuffs. The overwhelming joy to know he was going back for Scamp was making her sweat. 

''You stay here this time. The Razor crest is safe enough until I return.'' Anita looked into the helmet where she thought his eyes be, shakily smiling. No hesitation in the nod that she gave him because, despite all her threats, she had never actually killed anyone before. 

He enjoyed the grin she gave him a little too much, surprised more when she grabbed his helmet and pushed a strong kiss to the visor. Though his eyes were wide, he knew it was nothing more than grateful thank you.

Still. 

He debated whether or not to wipe the imprint she left on it. 

Anita was left giggling to herself on the ship he called the razor crest wasn't warm nor cold but she felt incredibly hot in all her excitement. 

While waiting, she pulled out her phone from her bag and turned it on. The months she had been on Arvala-7 didn't provide much opportunity to use it., but the battery was thankfully able to be saved. A hefty 58 percent allowed for her to entertain herself for a while until his return, she tried to ignore the sounds of gunfire but her attention was grabbed when footprints made their way onto the crest sometime after darkness fell. 

Anita turned off her phone and put back into her bag, leaving the entire thing there on the seat as she called out for Mando. ''Manny? That you?''

She stood there for a moment, confused and wary of whoever might be on the crest that wasn't a friendly. Though she wanted to find out, it wasn't best if she was taken as a hostage for when Mando came back with Scamp. 

So she closed the door to the cockpit and hunkered down staring at it until he returned. There was another pair of footsteps entering the ship, then some muffled words before she could clearly hear the guns going off.

Silence. 

Carefully she reached inside her bag to pull out her perfume, uncapping it and waiting for the person who won the shootout to open the cockpit door. When it slid open, she relaxed and laughed, dropping her perfume onto her bag and reaching out. 

''You're both okay.'' He tensed when she wrapped him up in the hug he thought was just for the kid, the trust he had lost returned and her warm, caring personality with it. 

He handed Scamp to Anita, who cooed excitedly and lovingly in her arms as he reached up to touch her cheeks with his little green hands. There was a decision made just then by the man who was covered head to toe in shiny new metal. 

Anita was never going to cry because of him again. 

Mother and child were wrapped up in each other as he lifted the crest towards space. Anita looked up briefly to see the stranger Mandalorian from the dank convent and waved with a smile when he saluted to his fellow Mandalorian. 

''I got to get one those.''

''Can i have one?'' Anita laughed as Scamp climbed down from her lap, cheekily moving towards the metal ball he was so fascinated with. Mando spotted his little green hand near immediately, reaching out for the ball himself to unscrew it and drop it into Scamps awaiting fingers. 

Anita's heart was full and she was so glad to have Scamp back, all the while very grateful that Mando had the change of heart before something bad had happened. Butt lifting from her seat, she wrapped her left arm around Mando's neck gently and pushed the side of her face against his helmet.

''Did I say thank you?'' 

''The lip imprint on my helmet said as much.''

Squeezing affectionately, Anita huffed out her laugh and sat back down. Scamp climbed back onto her lap and played with his newly acquired toy, showing it to her every so often. Anita had accidentally gotten what she had always wanted. 

Her own little family.


	6. Sorgan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Journey begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had planned to update this on Sunday, but I had the Covid vaccine the day before and it literally floored me. I was in bed the entire day and needed help doing something as simple as getting out of the bath. I've been having a rough time of it, lol. hoping to get the Mando mood back thou. don't worry. I hope any readers enjoy this.

The time spent with Mando was more enjoyable now that he had redeemed himself from leaving Scamp in the hands of the enemy.

Though his jobs were far and few between since he was excommunicated almost john wick style from the guild, he relied more on doing jobs for odd people here and there. Moments spent with him on the crest were good but sleeping arrangements were strange.

He slept mostly in the cockpit and Anita felt guilty for taking the only little space he had to sleep in. Despite wanting to offer a spot beside her, he wouldn't be able to take off his helmet to sleep comfortably.

He, for one, was rather surprised but happy at the space she already gave him. Anita had a habit of walking around the ship with her eyes closed when Scamp was asleep, on the off chance that he had taken his helmet off to eat or drink.

He didn't feel the need to worry about his face being seen by her on accident since she only ever opened her eyes when given the okay. She had hit her toes on corners more times than she could count, but he was comfortable with this new company on his ship.

She had given him the run down on everything in her bag when he'd asked. Scamp was interested in her phone and ipod as well as the earphones that went with them, but Anita herself was saddened when nothing on the ship had a familiar port to charge the items.

Over the few weeks doing everything to keep this new founded family fed, Mando had found himself looking over at Anita when she slept, or when she fed Scamp; a certain longing felt in his heart whenever she looked up and smiled at him.

The smile that scrunched the edges of her eyes and nose when she's walking blindly around for him. The feeling in his chest something that he'd never known before and only made itself known more whenever she touched him.

He found Anita to be a very physical woman. The constant hugs and kisses she would give flustered him, but luckily the helmet kept his flushed and bashful cheeks from being seen. Unluckily for her, the same could not be said when he returns from the market with something for her.

Anita had not been given gifts by a man who was not first and foremost, just a friend. This man, since that cursed day on Nevarro, had been so kind and caring towards her and scamp that she couldn't help but think of how he would be if it was a more romantic setting.

Passing over completely how his deep, smooth voice made her feel more south, her heart was constantly warmed by his actions. Brand-new shoes, a few more trousers and shirts to wear instead of stealing his when her own were drying.

Not that he seemed to mind her wearing his stuff.

The trust he displayed with her was intense.

The trust she displayed in him around Scamp was warming.

The two were the same but different, both of them were each wondrous in the friend they gained from across the galaxies. She was curious about the ways of the Mandalorian, how he gained his ship, What made him who he was.

He was curious on everything she had to experience on Earth and although he had promised to help her find a way back to her planet; a part of him wanted her to stay. It was terrible of him to want that, to want her to stay permanently on the wrong side of the galaxy, away from her family and friends.

But he would miss the kisses she gives before he goes out for a dangerous job. He would miss the imprint it would leave on his visor, the imprints he would refuse to wipe away until his job was done and he'd received payment.

It became sort of a ritual, an imprint with good luck woven into it. The one time she hadn't left her imprint was the one time she had to patch him up, granted it was only a scratch but still. Everything in his life had shifted to make room for Anita and her little green son but he couldn't be mad at it, because it was a change for the better.

Moments like this, with Scamp on the control panels, pushing buttons he shouldn't.

''Stop touching things.''

Anita was grinning, struggling to hold in her laugh as Scamp looked at Mando a moment before lifting his hand and, without looking away from the metal man, pushed another button. The entire crest shook and Mando rushed to turn off the button Scamp had pressed while Anita giggled hysterically to herself.

''We could have died.'' Mando said to her as he trapped Scamp in his arm.

''But it's funny because we didn't.''

Mando shook his head before looking at the screens of his ship. ''Sorgan. Looks like there's no starport, no industrial centers, no population density.''

''Perfect place to lie low!''

''For a couple of months hopefully enough.''

''Ooh watch out, things are getting domestic. Okay, here's the story. We are husband and wife, i am unable to bear children, so we adopted one that we found. Got it?''

''You can't have children?'' Anita paused by the gentle yet sad tone of his voice.

''Oh, honey, no I can. This is just a cover story for us to use.''

Mando shook his head as he prepared the ship to land on Sorgan. Sometimes he couldn't keep up with her, Anita changed her mannerisms so quickly in just the blink of an eye that it was hard to tell when one stopped and another started.

Razor crest landed, Mando turned off the engines and Scamp reached for his little metal ball that was back on the lever.

''Listen, I'm gonna go out there and look around. It shouldn't take too long.'' Mando stood up with Scamp but turned and placed the child on his chair. ''don't touch anything.'' Then he turned to Anita. ''You. Stay. I'll find us some lodging and come back for you both.''

Anita blew a raspberry as Mando walked away, she turned to look at Scamp and shook her head. ''Let's go follow the party pooper.'' She whispered, getting up from her seat and sneaking away, looking back to see Scamp following with his own little smile.

For a man who was usually on guard, He didn't notice the two of them until they stood right next to him. He looked at Scamp, then to Anita's innocent, smiling...deceitful face, and sighed. ''Oh what the hell. Come on.''

Anita smiled victoriously, her arm curling around Mando's as they walked so they would match paces, turning back periodically to make sure Scamp was alright following by himself on his little legs.

The cantina, as she now knew it to be called, was bustling with people and apparently animals too. She whirled around at lightspeed when Scamp's little cry reached her ears, some ugly alien cat thing had come a little too close to him; scooping him up into her arms and away from the horrid thing.

She placed Scamp on this galaxies version of a high chair before sitting down on a chair to his right, just so he was situated between herself and Mando.

''Welcome, travelers.'' Anita assumed the woman who greeted them to be the Cantina owner. ''Can I interest you in anything?''

''Bone broth for these two.''

''Oh well, you're in luck. I just took down and grinjer, so there's plenty. Can I interest you in a Porringer of broth as well?''

Mando shook his head. ''Just the two.'' Then he gestured over to the woman in the corner, sitting alone...suspiciously. ''That one over there. When did she arrive?''

''I've seen her here for the last week or so.

''What's her business here?

''Business? Oh, well, there's not much business in Sorgan, so I can't say.'' Mando flicked a coin her way, a look of grateful surprise taking over her face. ''She doesn't strike me as a log runner. Well, thank you, sir. I will get that broth to you as soon as possible, and I will throw in a flagon of spotchka just for good measure.''

Anita 'oo'd' in interested, her hands clasping together happily. Of all the food and drink that she had been exposed to in this galaxy, the Spotchka was her favourite, totally not reliant on the fact that it matched her hair; which was not growing in a healthy amount of brown virgin hair. 

When the worker vanished, Mando stood up, on edge that the other suspicious woman had vanished as well. Anita patted Scamp's head gently when he looked to her for answers, showing him only a reassuring smile.

She had her own 'blaster' on her, taught how to use it in the event that she needed to.

She hummed to herself, smiling in thanks when the woman returned with the broth and spotchka. Scamp whined when Mando was taking too long to return, so, placing his little feet on the floor, they went to find him.

They watched Mando and the woman fight, as entertaining and....attractive as it was, she hoped neither of them pulled the trigger. They turned their heads to find Anita and Scamp standing there, casually eating.

''You want some soup.''

''I'm Anita, That's Scamp.'' She introduced, holding her hand out for Mando to grab, who did so without hesitation, and she lifted him from the ground.

''Cara.''

''No'' Mando said as if he read her mind.

Anita grinned at him while Cara just looked confused. ''Manny, you should know by now...That I don't have a Cara in the world.''

''You're an idiot.''

''You love it. It makes your life less dark and depressing.''

Cara watched the exchange with a smile yet confused smile. Anita hadn't seemed like many other people she had come across but it was a refreshing turn of pace, following them back to the table, and Anita placed Scamp back on his high chair before walking off for another bowl of broth.

Anita sat a bowl in front of Cara before sitting between the woman and Scamp. ''Saw most of my action mopping up after Endor. Mostly ex-imperial warlords. They wanted it fast and quiet. They'd send us in on the dropships. No support, just us. Then when the imps were gone the politics started. We were peacekeepers, protecting delegates,suppressing riots. Not what I signed up for.''

''How'd you end up here?''

''Let's just call it an early retirement.'' Cara paused for a moment to sip from the bowl, ''Look i knew you were guild. I figured you had a fob on me. That's why I came at you so hard.''

''That's what I figured.''

''Well, this has been a real treat, but unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on, and I was here first.''

''Wow, She claimed a whole ass planet. That's a bit greedy.''

''We'll find another planet. Come on.''

Anita stood up, placing Scamp on the ground so he could walk himself. ''Somewhere we won't have to hide would be nice. Staying on the crest all cooped up all the time isn't the best, I was born to run you know, not so good at staying still for more than a few weeks.''

''This, I know.''

He'd seen after a while of her company that Anita needed something to do. In the moments where the child didn't pry for her attention, she needed something to occupy her thoughts. For a while, she spent the time trying to learn about the galaxy through him and while he thought she would grow tired of listening to him for long periods of time, he always found her more intrigued than the last time he looked at her.

Of course, he himself didn't know everything.

Especially the growing energy she could constantly feel when Scamp wanted attention. She wasn't sure if this growing energy had something to do with her or more with Scamp and his powers. If perhaps he was trying to convey speech across the telekinetic type powers he displayed on Arvala-7.

It was getting so late when they got back to the crest. Anita's energy was fading and she needed to make sure Scamp ate and drank once more before bed and she needed to use the fresher.

So when Mando came back in, ready to help two random men with their problems, she had to force herself to stay awake. Unable to give smart quips or puns in her exhaustion. Scamp was on her lap as she situated herself, waiting for Mando to come back with Cara and when he did, she was near half asleep.

In the end, she finally drifted off.

Right on his shoulder.


	7. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita ends up feeling a tad selfish, And unable to tell why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy writing this story. =)

Anita was shaken awake, two big eyes staring up at her as tiny limbs crawled all over her. Scamp wanted her awake, and he was going to get it.

The first thought she had in her mind was that she was on something hard, but it was breathing. There was a larger hand on her waist which helped her remember which hard surface she was pressed against.

A whine came from Scamp, impatiently shaking his mothers arm with his tiny hands. ''I'm up, I'm awake...ish.'' Squinting her eyes open, she tilted her head to look at Mando, who she couldn't tell was awake or not. To check, she slapped his chest plate and nodded in confirmation when his hand squeezed her waist.

Scamp whined again and crawled down off Anita, moving towards her bag where he had pulled out her water bottle. The particular reusable bottle harder to open since it was broken, She rolled away from Mando, taking the lid of the bottle in her hand and pushing the heavy set button to open the cap.

She flopped back into her previous position when Scamp finally had access to the water, nearly falling back to sleep until Cara jolted up in surprise when the vehicle stopped. Anita was forced to sit up when Mando did, hearing the sounds of excited children.

''Well, looks like they're happy to see us.''

Anita rubbed her face and yawned as Cara and Mando go off the droid manned vehicle. The kids surrounded Scamp, excited to see such a cute creature with the new people, giggling in unison when Scamp cooed at the 'good morning' kiss he received from his mother.

''You kids gonna help him down from there?'' Happily, they did so, letting Scamp down top the floor. Anita grabbed as much as she could and stalked off into the direction Mando and Scamp went, just in time to see a child jump back from the opening of the hut.

''You damn near scare this poor kid half to death, you goof.'' Anita chuckled, walking inside the hut and dropping all that she had stacked in her arms.

''This is my daughter, Winta. We don't get a lot of visitors around here. She's not used to strangers.'' Anita assumed this must have been Omera, she'd heard something about her preparing a hut for them.

''This nice man and woman are going to help protect us from the bad ones.''

''Oh no, He kills stuff, I'm just the mother.'' Anita pointed down at Scamp, correcting Omera. Anita had given all the threats but never actually planned to kill anyone.

Omera smiled as her daughter thanked Mando. ''Come on, Winta. Let's give our quests some room.'' They left and Mando looked around the room as Anita was sorting out everything they brought.

''Is this everything?''

''We don't make two trips in this family.'' Anita replied as if it answered his implied question of 'why did you carry this all by yourself'.

''I would've helped.''

''That would defeat the purpose of not making two trips. Never make two trips.'' He shook his head, confused by the logic but didn't argue it. He assumed this was a normal thing from her planet.

Omera returned some hours later, As Scamp was settled into a crib and Anita was preparing it with her labcoat for more comfortable sleeping for him. ''Knock knock.''

''Come in.'' Mando replied, halting in the care of his rifle. Omera came in with a tray in her hands, food piled upon it. Winta followed after her mother, looking hopeful while her mother looked encouraging.

''Can I feed him?'' She asked, looking to Mando, who turned and regarded the child for a moment before looking to Anita.

''You'd have to ask his mother.''

All eyes fell upon Anita as she continued to fidget with the crib, not yet finding it perfect. She smiled kindly, nodding her head. ''Sure, sweetheart, go ahead.'' Winta crouched by Scamp, giving him what appeared to be a tiny mushroom, and he accepted the food without complaint.

''Can I play with him?''

''I'm sure he'd love to play with some new friends.'' Anita moved Scamp from the crib to the floor, with Winta smiling and egging the child to follow her out the hut,

''I don't think-''

''It's fine.'' Anita smiled at Mando, turning to follow the kids outside to keep any eye on them. She heard him try to argue again but Omera was quick to agree that it would be fine. She watched Scamp have fun with the kids, a different kind of smile on his face than the one she usually saw.

As much as she knew how much Scamp probably loved her, it was always nice to play with some other people. After a while, she got hungry and the only place she had food waiting was back in the hut, what Omera had brought.

He saw it from the window, how she held her stomach and made the decision to make her way back. As usual, the panic of someone seeing his face was non-existent as he watched her grow closer; a part of him knowing she would close her eyes and blindly stumble for what she wanted.

''Manny, you good?'' She came around the door frame, eyes closed and her head tilting in every direction as if would help her hear better.

''Still eating.''

''Is there a plate for me? Kinda hungry.'' 

''Here.'' there was some shuffling before his hand took one of her own to place it underneath a plate. Making sure she wouldn't drop it before removing his hand entirely and returning to his own food.

She sat facing away from him, an act he was always grateful for. But he had never asked before. ''Are you curious? About my face?

''Well, yeah.'' Anita's voice was muffled, full of food no doubt, but he didn't turn to look at her. ''Why ask now? We've done this loads of times.''

''She asked about my helmet. Omera. How long it's been since someone saw my face.'' Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shrug. ''I've never asked if you felt curious to see it. You've always been careful not to see it.''

''Some other Mandalorian told me it was sort of a religion for you guys. Back on Nevarro when I hated your guts.'' She chuckled. When he didn't say anything, she continued on.

''It is human nature to be curious about something and that feeling can only get stronger when you're told you absolutely can not have answers. But I respect the path you've chosen despite how much I want to place a face to the voice. But the trust you place in me to do even this is something I would not dare lose.''

After a brief moment of silence, she wondered if she said something bad, but the smooth voice spoke before she could. ''Your family must miss you.''

''I'm sure they do.'' He had never trod on this ground before. He had never brought up her family. ''The triplets are probably upset. But I did set up a bank transfer in the off chance something happened to me and Barb was left without aid. She's probably sitting comfy in a nice four-bed house by now. I hope at least.'' 

Before he could say something else, she spoke yet again. ''Speaking of, you know you can have opinions and say so's on Scamp, right? Like, you don't have to refer to me because I've appointed myself the mother position.'' 

''Feels wrong.''

''Well, as the appointed mother I hereby knight you as his new father. We can now have arguments over what's best for him.''

''I'm sure you'll win them all.'' His voice was no longer the normal smooth, his helmet returned to its place and Anita opened her eyes. 

''Definitely.''

Scamp was returned to the hut responsibly by Winta sometime after Mando had left to scout the place with Cara. Seemingly, her boy had fallen and got a small scrape, of which Winta thought it best to take the wound to his mother, for 'Special mother healing powers' as Winta had called them.

The two happily skipped off after five minutes and Anita was left to her own devices until Mando and Cara came back to the village. She sat quietly off to the side as she listened to Mando and Cara explain why the villagers were no longer safe in their home, Keeping an eye on Scamp who was still with Winta.

Cara argued with a couple of people, not happy with the way they were told to pack up and leave so easily. The armored walker Cara explained, At-St, didn't even deter them from their home. Mando's helmet turned to look at her, watching the way Anita's eyebrow rose and deciphering her glance towards the people. 

Anita wasn't sure if her look had something to do with Mando's decision to teach the villagers how to fight but she was glad he had chosen it. Cara didn't seem to like the idea much but it never went further than the look on her face, choosing not to argue with Mando's choice. 

Anita's part was mostly in the building. Mando had tried to help her with the spears but it just wasn't something Anita was grasping. The woman was a scientist, she created and fixed with her hands, didn't take lives. 

After a few moments of stress building in her mind, Anita sighed, leaving the spear in Mando's hands and shaking her head; walking away towards where Scamp was playing with the children. 

Nevertheless, Mando gave her blaster, briefly explaining how to use it in case anyone got through, but he had accepted that she wasn't a fighter. Though there was something on her mind that he wanted to ask her about, overall forgetting the moment Omera had come to speak to him. 

It wasn't that Anita had a problem, more that she was confused. There was a moment, upon the realisation that the sun was going to set and he and Cara were setting off to lure the enemy. 

She had been with Mando for while now, despite the first impressions on Arvala-7 and Nevarro, she had gotten quite close to him. A connection she hadn't had in a while, not since meeting her best friend all those years ago. 

To see him - or rather his helmet- so pointedly staring at Omera while she stared back in silence made her heart jump. Confusingly so. 

Perhaps it was just the fear that he would leave her alone in a galaxy she still wasn't comfortable navigating. Anita had turned before she had been seen by either them or Cara, only giving Mando a two-finger salute as she ushered the kids and elderly into the hut furthest from the action. 

Scamp knew something was up, crawling from Winta to look up at Anita with those soul-piercing eyes of his. The silence of the village was deafening, the kids were growing restless and Anita was worried for her friends, feeling useless despite knowing her worth so confidently. 

It had taken a betrayal from her coworkers and space travel to realise that she should've taken those karate lessons with her friends. She had turned them down in favor of a mechanics class with her father. 

Anita jolted as something exploded nearby, yelling started and she could hear the blasters going off. The kids all shuffled closer to whichever adult they were closest two. There were only two others aside from Anita, the only two who wanted but were physically incapable of it. 

It didn't take too long, for the cheers to start. Anita waited for a moment longer before standing and allowing the children to run from the room in search of their parents. Holding Scamp, she set off from the hut herself. Meeting the Mandalorian somewhere hallway between the hut and the carnage. 

''Don't touch us, you're all wet.'' She joked while Scamp cooed in her arms. ''I'm....sorry I couldn't help more. I don't-''

''It's alright. I understand.'' He cut her off and she never wished to see his expression more. ''It seems your physical capabilities are only around when you think he's in danger.'' 

Anita rolled her eyes. ''That was one time. You wouldn't have even felt it if I had landed a hit on you.'' 

The night wasn't as cold as she thought it would've been. She had shoes Mando into their hut to let his clothes dry. Anita herself went to rummage around the AT-ST, looking at it with her father's eyes and scavenging whatever she thought Mando could use for the ship. 

The next thing she had known was two weeks passing and they were still at the village. Anita wasn't sure why they were still there, they had helped the village with their problem and she thought they would've left by now. 

She was spending most of her time with the kids, they loved her to death and Omera kept hovering around the Mandalorian. Anita was getting restless, unable to quell the need to hop off this planet. 

She watched with a smile as the kids teased Scamp with the blue watery shrimp creatures they bred at the village. It felt like she was a nursery teacher, watching over her kids or something and suddenly she felt bad for wanting to leave, for wanting to take Scamp from his friends. 

If Mando wanted to stay she would suck it up. She would push the need the run down and force herself to enjoy life in the tiny village...at least she could enjoy her jog's again. So, She let the kids pull her and scamp around, they even taught her a little about what they did to help the village harvest. 

The sun was nice, it was quiet and after a while, Anita was feeling less stuck by the idea of staying. Knowing that if she had Scamp, she would be fine. 

However, as she looked up from her seat with the kids around her, her eyes locked onto Omera and Mando. The woman's hands placed gently on his helmet, Anita's eyes widened and her heartbeat sped up, something in her chest aching and her eyes tearing. 

She tore her eyes away, forcing the feeling away. She had no right. No right whatsoever to feel upset if he did allow the woman to remove his helmet. Forcing a fake smile on her face for the kids before they could see another expression. 

Stress returned with a cold grasp. Anita's entire body filled with dread and she threw herself over Scamp, closing in on herself like an armadillo as a loud gunshot pierced the air. She was shaking as she looked up to see a still helmet adorning Mandalorian running off into the trees. 

Omera came running over for the kids, even tried to make sure that Scamp was okay until Anita curled back in on herself to prevent the woman from touching her child. Anita shook her head at Omera, getting up and turning to retreat into the hut they'd been appointment some weeks back.

Restless yet again. Anita paced the hut while Scamp stared at her, cooing gently as if to soothe her. Definitely to soothe her. 

He could feel her shaking, the arms that held him to her chest...her entire body was shaking and she wouldn't stop moving. Scamp almost feared he would be dropped but knew this woman wouldn't dare do such a thing even if she had been injured. 

''He was here from him.'' Anita gasped loudly, jumping as Mando scared her half to death when he spoke. She hadn't heard him come in. ''Pack up, we're leaving.'' 

As if just waiting for the order, Anita tucked her shirt into her trousers and slipped Scamp into the shirt, not willing to let the child down even for a moment as she began to pack up everything she had. 

Stopped only a moment later by Mando. ''Calm down. It's alright. Cara got him.'' She only nodded at him, returning to packing.

The goodbye was heartfelt. Though Anita was mostly silent, she did bid farewell to the children. They would miss Scamp most of all, and Scamp would miss them but Cara did not miss the way Anita pointedly did not look at Omera. 

He was sat next to her as they rode back to the Crest, her silence was loud in his ears. ''I'm sorry. I know this would've been a good place to stay. You looked happy.'' 

''I didn't want to stay,'' Anita replied without hesitation. '' I looked happy because I thought you wanted to stay.'' 

''Why didn't you say anything?'' 

''It was a selfish thought. To ask to leave and take Scamp from his friends. I will endure any conditions necessary if it makes him happy.'' Scamp looked up at her when he heard this, glancing momentarily to the Mandalorian. 

''You're not selfish. Wanting to be happy doesn't make you selfish.'' 

''Would you have let her do it?'' Anita turned her head to look at his visor for the first time since they left the village. ''Omera. Would you have let her take off your helmet?'' 

''No. I'm not ready to leave the creed behind.'' 

''I was selfish then. At that moment. As if I had any right to feel owed or to be the first person to see you. As if I've known you for much longer than I have. Than she has. As if I'm not looking for a way home myself and If I do find the way home, then I won't see you again, and seeing your face would be pointless. I-I don't know why I felt like that.'' 

''We've been each other's only company for a while. It's understandable we would feel more attached than we would to others.'' 

Anita thought about it for a minute. ''hmm... Maybe. Perhaps I was just a little defensive, protective? We're like our own little family, you know?'' 

He did know. He would never have thought the rocky start they had gotten off to on Arvala-7 and Nevarro would have ended up like this. A woman from another galaxy self appointing herself as his bounty's mother and then - after rescuing the bounty from the client- became his father. 

That the woman from another Galaxy who hurled insults at him left, right, and centre that day would be sitting there distressed over his creed almost being broken by another woman simply because she'd inadvertently created a family.

He was glad for his helmet. He could continue to do this. To watch her with a soft smile as she tended to the child, feeling lucky to witness such motherly affection; extra so to receive some of it himself. 

It was also something he was protective over.


	8. Tatooine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita learns some more.

Anita jerked forward in her seat, rolling her eyes at the evasive maneuvers this ship was pulling out. The fighter ship behind them, persuing them whilst firing its lasers was hot on their trail and Mando was doing everything he could to avoid being hit. 

''Hand over the child, Mando.'' 

''You have reached the Razor Crest voicemail. If you'd like to leave a message, Kiss my ass.'' Anita'S finger let go of the button that allowed her to reply to the pilot of the fighter, using her best kindly customer service voice to reply to the man who wanted her child.

Sparks flew over her head at something electric exploded. ''I might let you live.'' 

''Darling, not to be a backseat driver but, um, be faster?'' Mando's head turned to Anita for all of one second before focusing back on the current situation. ''Daddy's stressed.'' She whispered loudly to Scamp, who was whimpering in her arms. 

She had taken to calling him Daddy around Scamp, or papa, to further solidify the family she had created and fully bring it to life. He couldn't be annoyed with it, it was too cute but at the precise moment, he just wanted her to be quiet. 

The left engine was hit and it burst into flames and as pretty as the flames were, they were not wanted. ''Hold on.''

She almost wanted to ask but instead tightened her hold on Scamp and braced herself as Mando pulled back on the yoke and the entire ship descended into a roll. Thye fighter followed easily though and she could see Mando getting increasingly frustrated with all the stress and alarms screaming at him. 

''I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold.''

Once again, Anita jerked forward in her seat as Mando pulled back to stop the ship, clipping the bottom of the fighter as it shot past over them. 

''That's My line.'' Mando locked his crosshairs onto the fighter and fire the crest's own weapons. The Fighter was hit and it as well as its pilot was left as little more than dust and space was eerily quiet once more. 

''Witty.'' Anita wheezed out her laugh, the fear in her eyes unmistakable. ''...And hot, I'm not gonna lie.''

''Are you alright?'' 

''Peachy keen, dearie.'' She snorted before patting Scamp's head gently. ''He's a little rattled but he will calm down. More alarms then fired up and Mando went right back to pushing buttons.

''We're losing fuel.'' 

''You fucking what now?'' Scamp giggled as the lights died suddenly and the engines sputtered before switching off. ''Are we drifting in space?! This is a fear I never expected to have.'' 

''We're fine.'' Mando told her as he stood up, turning on the ships emergency power 

''Can you hear him? This little shit is giggling. Giggling at his own mother freaking out.'' Mando spared the giggling child a glance, thankful that neither could see his own betraying smile at her freaking out. Nor the shit-eating grin he grew when she sighed in relief at him getting the ship to fly onwards. 

''This is Mos Eisley tower. We are tracking you. Head for bay three-five, over.''

''Copy that, Locked in for three-five.'' 

''So Tatooine looks hot. Is it hot? You said it was a desert planet, as in single biome desert?'' 

''you don't have to leave the ship if it's too hot for you.'' 

''Manny sweetheart. I never leave this ship. You have like, your own personal maid.'' 

''I don't pay you.'' 

''Your ass is payment enough.'' Finally, Mando looked over at her, seeing the child gently dozing off to sleep now that the dangerous space fight was over. ''Don't look at me like that with your...expressionless helmet. I know exactly the kind of face you're giving me right now.'' 

''Do you really?'' 

''Yes. And listen, I have needs as a woman and my go-to guy who fixes those needs was left behind you know, when I hopped galaxies on my moon shoes.'' 

''You had a go-to guy?''

''I haven't had a chance to miss him between all of the life-threatening stuff. So your ass is just his replacement, okay? shut up and keep your eyes on the road...stars?'' 

Anita rubbed at her collarbone, bashfully turning her head. Mando had forgotten what it was like to be on his ship without her rambling off in the corner, spewing random subjects out at her. He had an idea of why she started throwing him suggestive comments, after her sort of confession that went over both their heads, she had the privilege of catching the man fresh out of the shower. 

As usual, he did have his helmet on, in the off chance she would walk by at the moment he'd forgotten to grab a towel from wherever she had put them that one time. Anita's constant rearranging of the ships utilities was brought on by her need to keep busy, which had so lovingly paid off when she saw everything but the face of the man who kept them safe. 

The embarrassment only lastest from the moment she saw him to the moment he'd ducked back into the room and out of sight. She had laughed heartily and he could hear her through the door, freezing when she knocked on it to say one thing. 

''Hellooooo nurse!'' 

He wouldn't have had a clue what that meant if she hadn't had a few episodes of something called 'Animaniacs' downloaded onto her phone. What he had gathered from the catcall was that she had thoroughly enjoyed whatever she had seen and decided to let him know in a jokingly grotesque sexual manner. 

He could hear her snorting laughter echoing for the next ten minutes. 

As of that moment to now, on Tatooine, she hadn't yet been caught in such a situation where he could use her own words-or catcall- against her. 

He watched as Anita got up, placing the newly dozing child on his lap as she walked off to get the blanket they usually used to keep him comfortable. It all felt rather domestic as she stood by to let him lay Scamp in the small sleeping cubby and shut the door to keep him safe.

Anita followed Mando off the ship to witness him shooting three droids before they could reach his ship. They screamed and fell to the floor, their entire bodies vanishing under their flat heads. 

''Hey! Hey!''

''That's what you get for shooting someone's droids.'' Anita grinned at Mando as the Droids got up and scurried away, not wanting to be shot at again. 

''You damage one of my droids, you'll pay for it.'' A woman threatened, walking towards the two. 

''Just keep them away from my ship..''

''Yeah? you think that's a good idea, do ya? let's look at your ship.'' she walked past them and focused on the crest, giving a few punches and kicks like a mechanic with a faulty tire. ''Off. Look at that. You got a lot of carbon scorin' building up top. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were in a shootout.''

''Don't be suspicious, Don't be suspicious.'' Anita sang quietly to herself, wiggling her shoulders to her own inside joke. He assumed someone else from earth would get the joke but for now, he didn't. 

''You got a fuel leak! How did you even land? That's gonna set you back.''

'I've got 500 Imperial Credits.'' 

''That's all you got? Well, what do you guys think?'' She turned to the droids and they chittered in their language, something Anita wanted to learn to understand if this woman was definitely understanding them. ''That should at least cover the hangar.''

''I'll get you your money.''

''Hmm. I've heard that before.'' 

''Just remember.....'' 

''Boy, what is it with you and droids? We got you, love. no droids.'' 

Mando ignored the sweet name she gave him and turned away, walking from the bay, his ship, the child, and his companion. Anita then turned to the woman and gave a sweet smile, introducing herself and getting Peli's name in return. 

''So Peli, you need any help? Since Manny's got the whole 'no droid' thing and it looks like just you as the only human around here. I need to learn some things.'' 

Peli squinted at Anita for a few moments, judging if she would be any good at even helping. In the end, Peli slapped a book into her chest and told her to read it. It seemed to be a basic manual and it did help Anita identify most of what she saw around the area that wasn't scrapped metal. 

More than halfway through the big book by the time a loud shriek echoed from the ship. Peli and the droids were playing a card game, the droids shrieked also at the sound; seeming to be quiet timid things. 

''I'd stay in the ship if I were you!'' 

''Oh no please, Peli!'' Anita placed the book open and face down so she didn't lose her place. Getting up from her seat to stand in front of the gun Peli had been given by one of her pit droids. ''That's just my son, he was sleeping when we landed. He must have gotten a bit scared when he realized he was alone on the ship.''

''Your son?'' Peli looked completely disbelieving. Rightfully so as she saw the child walking down the ramp of the ship, sticking his little green hands into the fabric of Anita's trousers. ''you birthed that?'' 

''No, what? I adopted him.'' Scamp cooed from her side and lifted his arms up. Peli watched as Anita bent down to pick him up, confused as to where she found it. ''He's probably hungry. He likes bone broth a lot if you have any?'' 

''Well, you heard her. Get us some bone broth!'' Peli immediately said to one of the pit droids. ''Where you did -''

''We kinda fell into each other laps a long time ago,'' Anita replied, fussing over Scamp as she wiggled on her hip. ''He was in captivity with some Nikto's and then got me, forced me to be a babysitter and ...you know, Maternal instincts did the rest. So now I'm a mother.''

''Naturally.'' Peli laughed, the two becoming friendlier than just customer and mechanic. ''Let's get to work on the ship then?'' 

The day passed fairly quickly. 

Peli taught Anita a lot that could be useful, especially when the woman pulled out her phone and charger to ask if something could be fashioned to charge it. Then they got to talking about the real story of Anita all the while working and it was ...familiar. 

Anita loved and missed her parents to pieces but was certainly her father's daughter. She had gotten his curiousity, his drive, and passion for new things and the unknown. It was because of her father that she wanted to be such a scientist as she strived to become with the internship. 

The days she had spent in her father's workshop, watching him tinkering and as she grew older, helped him tinker until the point where she was tinkering by herself. Anita's mother had always complained that she had to buy new toasters or radios because they'd been turned to scrap for her family to mess with.

Anita knew so much but on earth, with her friends and other people in her age group, it just wasn't popular. She wasn't a drink until you drop every single Friday but she would do it sometimes if her father was busy. 

Working on the crest with Peli reminded Anita of the times with her father. Except it was a little more dream-like since this was an actual spaceship. She was learning all of what it took to make the razer crest a vessel safe to traverse space like a car on a road.


End file.
